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March 3, 2016
Olentangy schools
‘Community understands our needs’
Voters to decide on funding for fourth high school March 15 By THOMAS GALLICK THISWEEKNEWS.COM
Orange Middle School seventh-grader Preethi Masina wires her “glowy monster” during the Feb. 24 meeting of the school’s STEM Club. Students learned a variety of skills in bringing the monsters to life. LORRIE CECIL/THISWEEK
Eyes light up at STEM Club Orange Middle School students’ ‘glowy monsters’ get kids excited about careers in STEM fields
By THOMAS GALLICK THISWEEKNEWS.COM With a puff of smoke and the introduction of electric current, the monster’s eyes illuminate. It’s not a scene from a horror movie, but the monthly meeting of Olentangy Orange Middle School’s STEM Club. The club met Feb. 24 to
work on its big project for the year: the creation of “glowy monsters.” To complete the project, students had to use tools such as wire strippers and a soldering iron to create a circuit that illuminated their felt monsters’ eyes. Science teacher Phil Stoll, the club’s adviser, said the
A student’s monster shows signs of life.
STEM CLUB >> A6 LORRIE CECIL/THISWEEK
Within a few weeks, Olentangy Local School District residents will decide if now is the right time to add a fourth high school. The Olentangy school board voted in November to put a 6.9-mill levy request on the March 15 ballot. The ballot issue features three components: a 5.9-mill operating levy, a 1-mill permanentimprovement levy and a $79.6 million, no-new-millage bond issue. A “yes” vote would approve all three parts of the ballot issue. If approved, the measure would cost district property owners an additional $241.50 per $100,000 in valuation annually. For the past few months, district officials have been visiting local government and community group meetings to help explain the ballot measure. Superintendent Mark Raiff said he’s received “very positive” feedback about the levy request at local events. “I think the community overall understands the needs that we have,” he said. The vast majority of funding from the bond issue, if approved, would go toward the construction of a fourth
high school on Berlin Station Road in Berlin Township. If a fourth high school is not built, district projections show 2,200 students – called the “absolute stretch capacity” by district officials – enrolled at each of the three existing schools by the 201920 school year. Projections show the district enrolling 6,600 or more high school students each year for 39 years after reaching that benchmark. “The lack of state funding while we continue to have enrollment growth is the biggest reason why we’re on the ballot,” Raiff said. Olentangy officials and residents have been lobbying state legislators for the past few years for increased perpupil funding from the state to decrease the district’s reliance on levies. Olentangy received about $534 per pupil in funding from the state in fiscal 2016 – less than half of the amount each of the three other Delaware County districts receive per pupil – because of restrictions on state aid to wealthy, growing districts. Olentangy school board member Julie Wagner Feasel said her discussions with residents about the ballot issue have revealed frustration with
SCHOOL >> A3
County, Powell safe zones protect online traders
Sheriff ’s office, Powell provide space for sellers, shoppers – even moms, dads – to make exchanges By THOMAS GALLICK THISWEEKNEWS.COM
The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office has a solution. A few weeks ago, workers Can’t decide whether that installed signs dedicating two seller on eBay or Craigslist is parking spots at the county jail as an “exchange safe zone” for forthright or fishy?
Inside
residents. Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Tracy Whited said the spots, which will be under 24hour video surveillance, give residents a chance to exchange
Police beat >> A4 Commentary & opinion >> A6
goods or custody of children in a safe place. Whited said she and her colleagues got the idea for the spaces when they saw a custody exchange take place near the sheriff’s administrative offices on North Sandusky Street in Delaware. After conducting some online research, she discovered it has become
Letters to the Editor >> A7 Classifieds >> A8
a common practice for police agencies to provide secure spaces for transactions. “I was blown away at how many law-enforcement agencies ... across the U.S. already had these in place,” she said. Sheriff’s officials decided the best place for the safe zone would be the parking lot at the Delaware County jail, 844 U.S.
Sports >> B1
Route 42 N. in Delaware. Whited said the spaces are well-lit and within walking distance of the jail lobby, which is open 24 hours a day. Whited said the installation of the new signs was not spurred by any particular crime or incident.
TRADERS >> A6